A rough week

I am so so so behind on my blog. I've had a lot going on these past two weeks that any spare second I have goes to catching up on my magazines or reading my excellent book (hopefully more on that later!). 

But I have a confession.

All week I've felt very frustrated with my life.

On Monday, my washer broke (un-repairable!), my art project I was trying out for Maisey's class on Wednesday was a fail, and some birds and squirrels ate all of the sunflower seeds that the kids and I left out to dry. 

On Tuesday, my kids were so grumpy, especially Miley. She just walked around and cried all morning. It didn't matter if I held her, played with her or left her alone, she just cried. We had the missionaries for dinner which is also always stressful. I like supporting them and don't mind feeding them, but it's hard to get it all ready and have my house clean, and not have my kids kill each other by the time the missionaries come and Shaun gets home from work (which is within 5 minutes of each other!). Our toilet in our bathroom also started leaking in the evening. By the end of Tuesday I was exhausted.

On Wednesday, I went to take Maisey to school and my van was completely dead!!! It was parked in the garage and I couldn't even shift it into neutral to push it out to be jumped. I called Shaun and I was so frustrated. I may have been a little mean to him. But he called someone to come and help me by hooking two jumper cables together.

All of this, plus a major decision that Shaun and I are trying to make has just had me down. 

But Shaun keeps reminding me how blessed we are. Blessed that we could go buy a new washer, blessed that I can help in Maisey's classroom and that I don't have to work, blessed that we have the means to feed the missionaries, blessed that we have friends who are always willing to come and help us when we need it. 

Sometimes it is sad that I loose sight of things like that. And it takes a tragedy to set me back on track. Today, I am grateful for a friend and a bishop who passed away in a farming accident last night. I am grateful that we asked him to trade us temple sealing assignments this month so he and his sweet wife could spend their last Tuesday together in the temple. I am grateful that I was at his house on Wednesday visiting with him and his wife. We were talking about our broken washer and our leaking toilet and how Shaun is not much of a handy man. He said that Shaun was always welcome to call him for help. That's the kind of man he was -- Always willing to help others.

All of the sudden my life doesn't seem so bad. We replaced our washer, my kids will have better days, my toilet will get fixed (eventually!), and we have friends who help us when we are in a bind (like when our kids leave lights on in the van!). 

I have tremendous sympathy for our friend's family. For his wife, who he was just getting to spend days upon days with after retiring earlier this year. And who also lost her mom and brother within the last nine months. For his kids, because I know what it is like to not be able to call your dad up to ask for advice, or to vent, or to share exciting news. For his grandkids, because a lot of them are so young, it will be hard to understand.

My heart also goes out to our friend who was injured in the accident last night. He is kind of like my dad in our ward. He is such a great man and is always checking in on me and my family. I know he will pull through this horrific event.

Most of all, I am grateful for my testimony. I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us. I know that families are eternal and if we choose to live righteously we will see our loved ones that have passed on before us again. I know that Christ died on the cross and then lived again. I am grateful that He provided a way that we can each live again as well.

What a somber end to a rough week.

Here is the link to the news story:

http://www.kptv.com/story/23481858/investigators-1-man-killed-1-critical-injured-in-tractor-accident 

MARION COUNTY, OR (KPTV) -

A bulldozer accident near Mount Angel killed one man and injured another Thursday night.
Several men were removing downed logs from a ravine on a property in the 12000 block of Monitor-Mckee Road Northeast when their bulldozer stalled near the top of the ravine.
They brought in a tractor to jump-start the bulldozer.
At some point, the bulldozer lurched and began backing down the incline.
Marion County deputies said 64-year-old Douglas Haycock was standing on the bulldozer's tracks. He became entangled in the tracks before being pulled under the bulldozer. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
A second victim, 68-year-old William Leder, also became trapped between the tracks and the blade of the bulldozer, but others at the scene rescued him by bringing in a backhoe. They used the backhoe to raise the blade of the bulldozer to free Leder, who suffered serious injuries to his arm.
Deputies said a LifeFlight helicopter took Leder to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland. His current condition is unknown.
Haycock's son, who witnessed the accident, is being credited with providing life-saving first aid to Leder before paramedics arrived to take over.
The accident happened around 7:45 p.m. about a half-mile away from the main road. 
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